Panthers-Sharks again matches up friends Bob Boughner and Peter DeBoer

Panthers coach Bob Boughner discusses seeing the coaches from San Jose after coaching with the Sharks for two seasons, plus why the most recent road trip was successful.

Bob Boughner and Peter DeBoer are friends, but that doesn’t mean DeBoer wants to hear too much from Boughner in the upcoming summer.

Boughner worked under DeBoer for the past two seasons as an assistant in San Jose before accepting the head coaching position in Florida. Friday’s meeting in Sunrise between the Sharks and Panthers will be the second — and final — one of the season. The Panthers beat the Sharks 2-0 in San Jose on Nov. 16.

Advertisement

“There’s no way we can go 0-2 against these guys and me listen to that all summer,” DeBoer said Friday morning. “This is a big one for us.”

The Panthers entered Friday’s game after posting back-to-back wins in New Jersey and New York. Likewise, the Sharks also carried consecutive victories into Friday’s game.

In his return to San Jose two weeks ago, Boughner met up with members of his former team. He went to dinner with the Sharks staff. Star defenseman Brent Burns presented him with a unique gift bundle: a 25-year-old bottle of scotch, a signed copy of ESPN’s Body Issue and a hunting knife. (“I’ve never hunted a day in my life,” Boughner said.) As the scenes swapped, Boughner again met up with San Jose’s coaches on Thursday.

“It’s good to see them all, but other than just both teams battling to get the two points, there’s not much more importance on anything,” Boughner said. “I spent a couple hours with those guys yesterday, caught up and did the same thing in San Jose. Today, it’s a work day and both teams are trying to beat each other.”

Sunrise is now familiar to both Boughner and DeBoer. DeBoer’s first NHL head coaching job was in Florida for three seasons from 2008-11. DeBoer coached the Devils for four season before joining the Sharks.

Boughner has spoken highly of DeBoer previously. When San Jose hired him to coach defensemen two years ago, Boughner’s only NHL coaching experience was one season as an assistant in Columbus. Boughner had eight years of junior hockey coaching experience, but was green in the NHL.

The Sharks took a chance on him. Since joining Florida, Boughner has implemented a similar system and has taken bits and pieces of DeBoer’s coaching style to Sunrise.

“One thing I learned from Pete is never assume,” Boughner said. “Never assume that these guys know exactly what we’re talking about, that they’re prepared and that you don’t need a video session or you don’t need a review session. Even in practice, keep hammering on the foundation and the systems every day.

“There’s often many times where ‘Maybe they’ve had enough video, we’re going to not do video today.’ Pete never assumes. Just keep doing the same thing over and over and over and engraining it into their heads. It becomes instinct. After a while, there’s no thinking to be had. It becomes instinct on the ice. Everybody knows where to be in every situation.”

DeBoer entrusted Boughner to tutor the defense and Boughner responded by turning Burns into a Norris Trophy winner as the league’s best defenseman.

“Like all coaches, if you’re patient, I have no doubt that he’ll deliver down here for Florida and the Panthers fans,” DeBoer said. “He’s got a great pedigree as a player. He’s got a nice feel of both being a player and also the Xs and Os of being a coach. He relates well to guys. Guys want to play hard for him. All the things you need to be a good coach in this league. He’s also got that confidence that he can do it. I think he’s going to be great down here.”

-- DeBoer never coached Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau in Florida, but he’s claiming some responsibility for his rising star.

“I take a lot of credit for him because we finished out of the playoffs the year that we got the draft pick that picked him,” DeBoer cracked.

Huberdeau was selected with the No. 3 pick in the 2011 draft. DeBoer was fired in April 2011.